Crime Lab

A new robot with the ability to handle liquids is coming to the Glendale Police Department's Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory. The City Council on Tuesday accepted grant funds to pay for the $53,243 QIAgility robot, which processes samples for DNA analysis. The robot will simplify phases of DNA examination that are “labor and time intensive,” according to a city report. The robot is the latest piece of equipment added to the lab, which will serve Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

GLENDALE — A $2.5-million federal grant awarded to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to reduce a backlog of DNA cases is expected to cut down on the number of local requests tied up at the overburdened regional lab, officials said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the U.S. Department of Justice grant, which would allow the Sheriff's Department to hire two additional criminalists to process DNA evidence from a backlog of sexual assault cases.

Technicians at the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory will soon be able to work more efficiently during DNA extractions thanks to two robots the lab is going to purchase. The City Council Tuesday approved use of a DNA backlog grant from the National Institute of Justice to pay for a DNA extraction robot and an automated liquid-handling robot, bringing the total number of robots at the lab to four. The lab had one robot when it opened in 2012 and it purchased another one with grant money in July.

A new long-awaited regional crime laboratory could begin processing vital ballistic analysis and DNA evidence for hundreds of unsolved property crimes as early as May, police said Thursday. Local police and city officials on Thursday introduced the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory that authorities said will allow quicker processing of crime scene evidence in Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena. “We could use DNA early on to intercede as rapidly as possible,” Glendale Police Ron De Pompa said at the news conference.

The Altadena man faces life in prison; sentencing set for Oct. 24.A Pasadena jury found an Altadena man guilty Wednesday of the 2001 rapes of three elderly Pasadena women and an elderly La Crescenta woman. Clifton Hutchins, 38, was convicted of six counts of forcible rape, two rape-related charges, one count of first-degree burglary with a person present, two counts of first-degree burglary and a misdemeanor charge of peeking. Hutchins is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 24 by Pasadena Superior Court Judge Edward Simpson.

GLENDALE — The Police Department will get $1 million from the federal government to purchase DNA assessment equipment and pay for staff for its crime lab so it can conduct DNA analysis and investigate crime and cold case evidence, officials said. About 1,000 cases with DNA evidence, such as residential burglaries, are backlogged in Glendale because police do not have the proper equipment to process that type of evidence and have had to rely on outside labs to analyze samples, Glendale Police Capt.

The old adage "the show must go on" was never more poignant than last week with the Crescenta Valley High School production of "Grease." For weeks, drama and stage arts students have been giving up their nights and weekends to work on the show. They have learned to dance and sing, build sets and hang lights, and they were ready for their first show Friday night when they walked into the theater to discover someone had vandalized their sets and stolen many of the props and costumes.

Darleene Barrientos After its current tenants move out, the building at 140 N. Isabel St. could be an opportunity for the city to get closer. With the Glendale Police Department aiming to move by December into its new, high-tech, multimillion-dollar digs across the street, the 43-year-old existing police station offers the city an opportunity to bring departments that have been operating off-site or in leased spaces back into the fold. A local architectural design consulting firm, Osborn Architects, is looking over the building and evaluating its potential.

Gary Moskowitz To Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams, the new police facility on Isabel Street is a tribute to the men and women fighting for peace right here at home. As troops fight the war overseas, it is the police and firefighters who work hard to keep local communities like Glendale safe, Adams said Saturday at the formal dedication ceremony of Glendale's new police facility. About 600 people, including city and school officials, local representatives, police and firefighters, community leaders and families attended the event.

All three congressional representatives for the Burbank-Glendale area voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would provide vouchers of up to $4,500 to residents who turn in their gas hogs for significantly more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act now goes to the Senate for consideration after Reps. Adam Schiff, David Dreier and Brad Sherman joined with the two-thirds majority to pass the bill. Dreier called the legislation ?an important step toward strengthening our weakened auto industry,?

Technicians at the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory will soon be able to work more efficiently during DNA extractions thanks to two robots the lab is going to purchase. The City Council Tuesday approved use of a DNA backlog grant from the National Institute of Justice to pay for a DNA extraction robot and an automated liquid-handling robot, bringing the total number of robots at the lab to four. The lab had one robot when it opened in 2012 and it purchased another one with grant money in July.

A new robot with the ability to handle liquids is coming to the Glendale Police Department's Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory. The City Council on Tuesday accepted grant funds to pay for the $53,243 QIAgility robot, which processes samples for DNA analysis. The robot will simplify phases of DNA examination that are “labor and time intensive,” according to a city report. The robot is the latest piece of equipment added to the lab, which will serve Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena.

A new long-awaited regional crime laboratory could begin processing vital ballistic analysis and DNA evidence for hundreds of unsolved property crimes as early as May, police said Thursday. Local police and city officials on Thursday introduced the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory that authorities said will allow quicker processing of crime scene evidence in Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena. “We could use DNA early on to intercede as rapidly as possible,” Glendale Police Ron De Pompa said at the news conference.

GLENDALE — A $2.5-million federal grant awarded to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to reduce a backlog of DNA cases is expected to cut down on the number of local requests tied up at the overburdened regional lab, officials said. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the U.S. Department of Justice grant, which would allow the Sheriff's Department to hire two additional criminalists to process DNA evidence from a backlog of sexual assault cases.

All three congressional representatives for the Burbank-Glendale area voted Tuesday to pass a bill that would provide vouchers of up to $4,500 to residents who turn in their gas hogs for significantly more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act now goes to the Senate for consideration after Reps. Adam Schiff, David Dreier and Brad Sherman joined with the two-thirds majority to pass the bill. Dreier called the legislation ?an important step toward strengthening our weakened auto industry,?

GLENDALE — The Police Department will get $1 million from the federal government to purchase DNA assessment equipment and pay for staff for its crime lab so it can conduct DNA analysis and investigate crime and cold case evidence, officials said. About 1,000 cases with DNA evidence, such as residential burglaries, are backlogged in Glendale because police do not have the proper equipment to process that type of evidence and have had to rely on outside labs to analyze samples, Glendale Police Capt.

The old adage "the show must go on" was never more poignant than last week with the Crescenta Valley High School production of "Grease." For weeks, drama and stage arts students have been giving up their nights and weekends to work on the show. They have learned to dance and sing, build sets and hang lights, and they were ready for their first show Friday night when they walked into the theater to discover someone had vandalized their sets and stolen many of the props and costumes.

The Altadena man faces life in prison; sentencing set for Oct. 24.A Pasadena jury found an Altadena man guilty Wednesday of the 2001 rapes of three elderly Pasadena women and an elderly La Crescenta woman. Clifton Hutchins, 38, was convicted of six counts of forcible rape, two rape-related charges, one count of first-degree burglary with a person present, two counts of first-degree burglary and a misdemeanor charge of peeking. Hutchins is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 24 by Pasadena Superior Court Judge Edward Simpson.

Darleene Barrientos After its current tenants move out, the building at 140 N. Isabel St. could be an opportunity for the city to get closer. With the Glendale Police Department aiming to move by December into its new, high-tech, multimillion-dollar digs across the street, the 43-year-old existing police station offers the city an opportunity to bring departments that have been operating off-site or in leased spaces back into the fold. A local architectural design consulting firm, Osborn Architects, is looking over the building and evaluating its potential.

Gary Moskowitz To Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams, the new police facility on Isabel Street is a tribute to the men and women fighting for peace right here at home. As troops fight the war overseas, it is the police and firefighters who work hard to keep local communities like Glendale safe, Adams said Saturday at the formal dedication ceremony of Glendale's new police facility. About 600 people, including city and school officials, local representatives, police and firefighters, community leaders and families attended the event.